their
tales of the origin of things, and the Providence which rules them,
will be so mingled with those of the Indian, that the very oak-tree
will not know them apart,--will not know whether itself be a Runic, a
Druid, or a Winnebago oak.

Some seeds of all growths that have ever been known in this world
might, no doubt, already be found in these Western wilds, if we had
the power to call them to life.

I saw, in the newspaper, that the American Tract Society boasted of
their agent's having exchanged, at a Western cabin door, tracts for
the "Devil on Two Sticks," and then burnt that more entertaining than
edifying volume. No wonder, though, they study it there. Could one
but have the gift of reading the dreams dreamed by men of such various
birth, various history, various mind, it would afford much, more
extensive amusement than did the chambers of one Spanish city!

Could I but have flown at night through such mental experiences,
instead of being shut up in my little bedroom at the Milwaukie
boarding-house, this chapter would have been worth reading. As it is,
let us hasten to a close.

Had I been rich in money, I might have built a house, or set up in
business, during my fortnight's stay at Milwaukie, matters move on
there at so rapid a rate. But being only rich in curiosity, I was
obliged to walk the streets and pick up what I could in casual
intercourse. When I left the street, indeed, and walked on the bluffs,
or sat beside the lake in their shadow, my mind was rich in dreams
congenial to the scene, some time to be realized, though not by me.

A boat was left, keel up, half on the sand, half in the water, swaying
with each swell of the lake. It gave a picturesque grace to that part
of the shore, as the only image of inaction,--only object of a pensive
character to be seen. Near this I sat, to dream my dreams and watch
the colors of the lake, changing hourly, till the sun sank. These
hours yielded impulses, wove webs, such as life will not again afford.

Returning to the boarding-house, which was also a boarding-school, we
were sure to be greeted by gay laughter.

This school was conducted by two girls of nineteen and seventeen
years; their pupils were nearly as old as themselves. The relation
seemed very pleasant between them; the only superiority--that of
superior knowledge--was sufficient to maintain authority,--all the
authority that was needed to keep daily life in good order.

In the West, people are